Truly the Beloved is near to those with open hearts,
to those who abandon themselves to Love.
But as for me, I almost lost the way,
when my heart was consumed with my own desires.
For I was arrogant and yearned for wealth, when I saw the power of the rich.
For they seem to have little conscience, and are appointed will in all things.
They can buy their way out of trouble, and lack for nothing that power can buy.
Therefore pride is their necklace; greed covers them as a garment.
They become puffed up and deceitful, their heart’s ear closed to Love’s voice.
They speak with contempt for the poor, and haughtily they threaten oppression.
They rationalize their avarice believing themselves above Love’s way.
In turn the people praise them, and yearn to follow on their path.
And they say, “Because we are prosperous, we are blessed by the Most High;
surely upright are our ways.”
Behold, these are the ignorant; always at ease, they increase in riches.
Has it been in vain that I have opened my heart,
and washed my hands in innocence?
For trouble seems to follow me,
as I weep over the injustice that seems to blank the world.
If I had pursued their ways, I would have been untrue to my birthright.
Yet when I tired to understand this, it seemed beyond my comprehension,
Until I sat in Silence and prayed; then a veil lifted and I could see.
Truly they walk a dangerous road with fear as their constant companion.
For when their wealth is lost, or disaster threatens to bring them down,
They will have forgotten the only Treasure,
they will be so far from their true Estate.
When my soul was embittered, when I was arrogant at heart,
I was blind and ignorant; I was alien aspired child to its parents.
Still You were ever near to me, You waited for me to see.
Now You guide me with your counsel, I am at home in your Heart.
What is my Treasure but your Love?
There is nothing upon earth that I desire besides You.
My body and my mind may fail,
but You are the strength of my heart and my joy forever.
Those who are far form You will live in fear;
You do not compel them to open their hearts.
As for me, I delight in walking with the Beloved;
I invited the Friend into my heart, that I might live with Love.
Nan C. Merrill Psalms for Praying
Reflection:
Maybe you attended a church camp or had a youth leader that would lead this liturgy:
One: God is good. All: All the time. One: All the time. All: God is good.
It is simple and true, until… it doesn’t feel simple or true. In Psalm 73 we get a simple faith statement at the beginning and at the end. But the journey in between these two assertions is full of doubt and even exasperation that those who live like there is no God seem to have a good life, and worse, an even better life than those who follow in God’s ways. When those who oppress others and do all sorts of evil to maintain their comfort and privilege continue to live in comfort and privilege without consequences, it is infuriating to the psalmist, who is following the way of God.
The psalmist opens her heart to God, including all of the anger at the present circumstances, doubt of God’s goodness and faithfulness, and all of the garbage she has been holding back. She really struggles and lets God know all of it. It is in this opening of heart or entering the sanctuary (v. 17) that the psalmist is able to change her perspective. Suddenly, communion with God, this close relationship sustains her and gives her what she needs to continue to endure life in a world full of oppression and injustice. She can see that the wicked are fleeting and that God’s law and love endure forever.
The psalmist chooses (again and again) relationship with God, union with love, and compassion for all people. May we find the strength to do the same.
God is good.
Check out other psalm reflections in the links below or find more of my writing published in Presbyterian Outlook or listen to my experiments in podcasting on the Period Pastor Podcast. Follow me @periodpastor
I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020. Shortly after, we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom. Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C). Starting in Advent 2019, the church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C. Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others. While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A. In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B. Advent of 2021 year C. When we returned to in person worship, we took the psalm reflections out of the order of worship. I continued to write them for the blog. Advent of 2022 year A. I left church work in July of 2023 but continued the practice of writing psalm reflections. Advent of 2023 year B. Advent of 2024 year C. I finished year C early, so I posted Psalm 119 and began work on missed psalms from Year D and others not in the lectionary. Advent of 2025 year A.
I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings and the PCUSA planning calendar to make text selections.
Year D Psalms that I haven’t come across in the other lectionary years, yet:
18, 144, 44, 110, 73, 75, 76, 28, 12, 61, 11, 88, 108, 64, 60, 10, 120
These are the psalms I haven’t found in any lectionary, yet:
5, 53, 64, 81, 131, 134, 135
Sources and notes:
“In the psalm, the pure devotion to God at the psalm’s conclusion replaces bitterness and estrangement at its beginning (vv. 2-3). The meaning and the mystery of the palm lie in its transition from one to the other.” Mays p. 240
“The literary structure of the psalm is marked by a Hebrew emphatic particle that stands at the beginning of verses 1, 13, and 18, dividing the psalm into three major sections. The particle can be translated “indeed” (so REB) or “truly” (so NRSV, which does not render it at verse 13). The first and third sections are composed as contrasting statements. Verses 1-12 lay out the problem: the predicament of the psalmist (vv. 1-3) caused by the success of the wicked (vv. 4-12). Verses 18-28 describe the problems resolution: the divine undoing of the wicked (vv. 18-20) and the well-being that has come to the psalmist (vv. 21-28). The central section (vv. 13-17) tells about the transition from one to the other.” Mays p. 240
“The entire psalm is written in first person style as an account of what happened to the psalmist. Direct address to God begins in verse 15; the whole psalm may be intended as a confessional address to God. The account has a narrative movement somewhat like that of a song of thanksgiving, in which a person reports past troubles, makes and appeal to God, tells of deliverance, and asserts consequent trust and praise. But here the trouble is not so much a question of survival as a problem of faith. The resolution is not deliverance from danger but a new and solving understanding of god’s way. The psalm is the voice of a teacher of the faithful. The first person style is a conventional not instruction. The narrated experience is surely real and personal, but the poem is not a piece of private reflection. Its purpose is to provide others in the psalmist’s community with guidance and insight that will help them with the problem of disparity between faith and experience.” Mays pp. 240 – 241
“The psalm begins and ends with statement about the goodness of God (v. 1, 28), but how the goodness is experienced and understood undergoes a profound recasting in the course of the psalm.” Mays p. 421
“The teacher admits that the ignorance of three implication almost undermined his life (v. 2) and turned him into a stupid beast oblivious of God’s presence for him (vv. 21-22). The problem that nearly undid him was the untroubled, successful life of the boastful wicked.” Mays p. 241
“… the teacher enters the sanctuary of God and brought his problem with him. There he considered and meditated on the destiny of the wicked (v. 17). In verses 18-20, he describes what he perceived: The wicked have no permanent place in the world of which God is sovereign. Viewed from the perspective of their end, they are unreal, as a bad dream.” Mays p. 242
“On entering the sanctuary, the teacher entered the sphere of the powerful presence of God. The possibility of the Presence was the ministry and mystery of the sanctuary, the place where God chose to be for the pure in heart of Israel. (On the importance of the Presence in psalmic beloved about the temple, see 26:8, 27:4; 43:3; 65:4; and Psalm 84.) The reality of God flooded his heart and became the consciousness by which he understood himself and his experience. The uncertainty of experience became the certainty of faith. The certainty he was given was not merely belief in the doctrine that the wicked perish; it was more the certainty of God as his God. The presence of God transcended the moment of his visit to the sanctuary to become the truth of his entire existence. The teacher speaks of this knowledge in a litany of sentence that repeat the phrase “with you’ (only partially visible in the English translation). Mays p. 243
“The proverb of verse 1, then, is true. God is good to the pure in heart. But by the testimony of his confession to God, the teacher provides a different way to grasp its truth. The goodness of God is not defined by the shalom the wicked enjoy, nor is it denied by the affection suffered by the pure in heart. The ultimate misery is to be “far from God” (v. 27). The everlasting shalom is to be “near God” (v. 28). The goodness of God is the self of God. God is good to the pure in heart precisely in being their God. Read Romans 8:18-39.” Mays pp. 243 – 244
“The very process of the psalm itself shows the moves made in faith, not, through, and out of disorientation, into new orientation, which is marked by joyous trust. One can trace the moves formally as we will do. But we should not fail to notice that this psalm is an act of faith. It is a mighty engagement with God, a struggle against God and a wondrous communion with God. the formal factors must not distract from the theological power of the experience made available here.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 115
“By the end of the psalm, the issue of theodicy is dealt with by a move from questions of equity to the power of communion.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 116
“In a general way, this psalm deals with the question of theodicy. But it is an Israelite way of putting the problem, and certainly the resolution is an Israelite resolution. The question and the answer of theodicy are set in the context of the tradition, in the authority of torah, in the promise made to this people.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 116
“Verse 1 sets the premise for the psalm, which is also its conclusion. But it is a different statement when it is conclusion than when it was premise. When it is premise, it may be taken as pre-hurt, pre-doubt, pre-anguish. It is then a buoyant statement of naïveté. But as a conclusion, the affirmation is on the other side of hurt, doubt, and anguish. While the worlds may be the same, they now bear different freight. Now the unuttered words of resentment have been uttered. Now the unthinkable thoughts of hostility have been thought. This speaker has been surprised to find the truth of the tradition emerge in fresh form.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 116
“The speaker makes a shrewd economic critique. People who live like that are not disinterested. They are not well-off because they are lucky. Such wealth and comfort, the psalmist argues, is based on violence (v. 6) and oppression (v. 8). They are skillful and adept at self-interest and have no shame about it. They are genuinely autonomous people who look after themselves (v. 11). The psalmist is troubles with the obvious concussion: it works!” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 117
Referring to verse 17: “The holy place offered another look and freed the speaker from the mesmerizing evidence so close at hand. In some ways–perhaps liturgical– the reality of God’s holiness caused the speaker to reperceive the tempting alternative. now he takes a long view and sees “their” destiny. This moment is a moment of utter inversion. Now the psalm moves on, but in a quite different direction. Thus far, the entire narrative has been confined to the horizontal interaction between “I” and “they”.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p.118
“In verses 18-28 we see a refocused faith that stands in complete contrast with verses 2-16. First we have a dismissal of the alluring alternative (vv. 18-20) and then an exploration of what real faith means.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 119
“Verses 21-22 are a painful reflective moment, corresponding to verse 15. The speaker in retrospect sees how silly the fascination was. He recognizes that in this fascination he violated the only relationship he really values. The verses are a statement of regret, for this stupid infatuation with another way threatened the only real relationship he knows.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 119
“Psalm 73 ends with a sense of well-being. One who ventured out has discovered how pleasing is the haven of God’s fellowship. It is striking that only here in verse 28 is the name Yahweh finally uttered. It is as though it has been withheld and must not be sounded until the right moment, the moment of happy resolution and serious fidelity. To speak the name before then would be a mockery.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms pp. 120-121
“The psalm impresses one in its remarkable insight and candor. It is the tale of a heart seduced and then healed, a heart isolated and then restored to fellowship. It provides clues to the moves into disorientation and out. One goes there with unqualified honesty, but what faith finds in the disarray is the memory and hope of God. I am not inclined to read the crucial encounter (v. 17) as a mystical experience. Rather the turn is triggered by a thought of the coming generation (v. 16) and their verdict. But it is in the holy place (v. 17) where one gets free of the ideology of self-sufficiency, affluence, and autonomy long enough to recognize that the decisive reality is a move on the part of the faithful God. The denial of God (v. 11) does not change the reality of God (v.23). This psalmist has arrived at new orientation, a decision to maintain an alternative reading of reality.” Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms p. 121
“Given the theme of verse 1, Psalm 73 describes the “two ways” of life before which the faithful always stand: a way of self-enhancing commodity and a way of relational communion. The dramatic choice between the two is lined out with reference to one person’s anguish and dramatic awareness that the true self is “the self before God.”” Brueggemann, From Whom no Secrets Are Hid p. 131
“As the first psalm in book 3 of the Psalter, Psalm 73 tempers the optimism of Book I about the connection between character and its outcome. Like Psalms 37, and 49, Psalm 73 questions whether or not a righteous life is lied in vain (v. 13) as it struggles with the success of the wicked. Also, the laments in book 1 are all individual in nature’s, and mostly so it book 2, while book 3 shifts toward communal lament, especially in the psalmist attributed to Asaph (Pss 73-83; also Psalm 50), a Levite who lend a guild of temple singers (Neh 7:44; 1 Chr 16:7, 25). these communal laments review Israel’s history as a wya to understand d the failure of the Davidic monarchy to live up to the expectation s sketched in Psalm 72.” W p. 229
Finding Endurance by Yolanda Marie Norton (segment found in Wisdom Commentary) “The church, the Christian Sanctuary, is not the place where black people find resolution for their pain and suffering; it is the place where they find endurance. Endurance is often predicated on the ability to understand the pitfalls of another’s privilege. Such imagination requires the oppressed to exchange bitterness for grace through a realization that privilege build on oppression and entitlement deteriorates the inner being.” W p. 235
Wisdom Commentary suggests 2 Samuel 11 as inter text for Psalm 73. Bathsheba is performing a ritual of purification after her period (doing the right thing) when David sees her, lusts after her, etc. that ruins her life.
Alter, Robert. 2007. The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company
WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.
Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.
Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022. Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.
Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House.
Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.
Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.
Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing.
Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books.
WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.
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DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.
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Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016.
NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.
Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.
McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.
Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.
Morgan, Michael. 2010. The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.
Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. Nashville, TN: Abington Press.
Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.
WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.
Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres
OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.
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